The Baseline - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 348

TABLE 8.1
Defi nition of Selected Environmental Indicators

Indicator Defi nition

Input Indicator Monitors the project-specifi c resources provided

Output Indicator Measures goods and services provided by the project

Impact Indicator Monitors longer-term environmental impacts of the project

Pressure Indicator Measures human activity with potential environmental effects

State Indicator Measures current environmental conditions

Response Indicator Measures human and natural response to environmental pressures

Bio-Indicator Plant /animal signalling environmental condition

Performance Indicator Indicates environmental performance

Alarm Indicator Provides timely warning about impending adverse changes

Diagnostic Indicator Enables in-depth analysis of changes

Leading Indicator Measures the implementation of environmental practices

Lagging Indicator Measures the result of environmental practices

The difference in nomenclature largely depends on the underlying framework used to derive indicators.

Alarm indicators are a small set
of indicators, easily monitored at
low cost, hence allowing frequent
or continuous monitoring.

taken. Alarm indicators are a small set of indicators, easily monitored at low cost, hence
allowing frequent or continuous monitoring. Examples are monitoring of water levels in
tailings ponds or of pH values in discharge water.
Diagnostic indicators, in comparison, are a second set of indicators activated if the value
of the alarm indicators crosses a predetermined trigger value ( Figure 8.2 ). Diagnostic
indicators are designed to allow a more in-depth analysis (or diagnosis) of the causes that
triggered the alarm indicator. The diagnostic indicators give more detailed information
about the issues at hand, but data collection and analysis is generally more time consuming
and costly.
Environmental indicators can also be broadly classed into two types. Lagging indicators,
the type of metrics most commonly reported, 'lag' or measure the results of environmen-
tal practices or operations. Types of data include tons of waste generated, number of pen-
alties and violations, number of lost work days, or tons of shipped materials. Frequently
these types of data are collected because environmental laws require that they be reported.
Lagging indicators are usually readily quantii able and understandable, and include sta-
tistical data collected for other business purposes. The main disadvantage is that, as the
name implies, they lag or rel ect situations where corrective action can only be taken after
the fact, and often after incurring some type of cost, whether it be in penalties or decreased
credibility with regulators or the public.
Leading or in-process indicators measure the implementation of practices or measures
which are expected to lead to improved environmental performance. For example, instead

Leading or in-process indicators
measure the implementation of
practices or measures which are
expected to lead to improved
environmental performance.